The Hell that Runs: Season 2
by The Swooce
Summary: After the events of Season 1, Quentin and the group attempt to recover both physically and mentally. Unbeknownst to them, a more sinister plan is brewing, and it very well could result in devastating losses. EPISODE 1 OUT! READ AND REVIEW! T for language, sexual references, and violence.
1. EPISODE 1: Where Demons Hide

**-Quentin's POV-**

_-Eight Months Later-_

Eight months have passed since the events at the hotel. Since Gabriel lost his eye, since Amanda redeemed herself, since Lionel nearly killed me. Eight months have passed and now I was able to walk without a cane. I managed to keep myself presentable for the most part, and I even managed to find a razor so I could shave. Sure it wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing.

Currently, I was sitting in the meeting room alongside Brock, Amy, Garrison, Andrew, and new council member Colby. Like Andrew mentioned prior, Colby was really the top pick to be on the council, as he was said to be one of the most fierce protectors of Rock Hill. Considering I've seen him in action, it was easy to see why.

"So, we're here for our monthly updates on Rock Hill, let's begin." I said, holding a notepad. "Colby, we'll start with you." Colby nodded. "Everyone at Rock Hill is doing good, no problems, morale is good, overall, everyone is behaving themselves." Colby spoke. "Even Lars?" I asked. Lars was one of the residents I previously didn't know much about, but eventually, he became my biggest detractor for one particular reason.

"It's no secret how Lars feels about you and Shawn." Colby replied. "I swear, the dude's got a vendetta towards you." Brock spoke up, rubbing his now thicker beard. "Well he'll have to get used to being bossed around by a gay dude." I replied, causing Colby to smirk. I turned to Brock and asked his status on the walls.

"Walls are sturdy, but they need to be reinforced when that storm comes in, it's going to be a nasty one that's for sure." Brock spoke. "How'd you find that out?" Amy asked. "You know that Catherine girl?" Brock asked. "Yeah, she's married to that Fergal guy, what about her?"

"Turns out she was a meteorologist." Brock replied. "We're also low on metal, so we need some more." Garrison then spoke up. "During one of the trips I went on, we found a construction site with its machines still in tact, maybe if we power one of them up, it can help us." Brock nodded. "We could tear down some buildings we cleared out, make use out of the materials."

"Good idea." I said. "I could take Evan and Justin out there, see what we can bring back." Garrison spoke. Nodding, I turned to Andrew. "Well, Johnny's coming by tomorrow for the monthly trade, and luckily everything's set up." Andrew spoke. "Good lord, I'm so jealous that Johnny and his group live in that gorgeous college." Amy spoke. "Aye, it's a bonnie."

Everyone gave Andrew a confused look once he said that. "It's beautiful." Andrew replied. I looked over at Amy, and she shook her head. "Food's all good, nothing missing, it's good that we still have Matthew to teach Alex and Rich how to grow vegetables." Amy replied. "Nothing else."

Finally there was Garrison. "Well, like I said earlier, I could go down to that construction site with Evan and Justin to grab those vehicles." Garrison spoke. "Any updates on the lurkers or the Revivalists?" I asked, and Garrison shook his head. "Lurkers are just doing their lurker thing, scared the crap out of Michael when one lunged at him during one of our trips." Garrison chuckled a bit. "When Jane said that these people didn't know much about the lurkers, she definitely wasn't lying."

I just nodded my head. "What about the Revivalists?" I asked. Garrison shrugged. "I haven't seen any sign of them, maybe they decided to call it quits and fuck off to some other place." I shook my head. "Doubt it, I'm sure Seth's not the type of guy to give up." I noticed Amy's and Brock's expressions change to one of anger, no doubt remembering what Seth did to Gabriel. Speaking of which, I had to check on Gabriel after this. "I think I want to make sure that they're gone." I replied. "Alright, but while you're out there, can you get some medicine Judy requested for Amanda, she's really close now." Garrison said. "No worries, I can bring her, Shawn, Rajeev and Hubert, we'll schedule it for next week." I replied.

"Alright, if that's everything, then meeting adjourned." As everyone got up and left, I caught up with Amy. "Hey Amy." I spoke, and Amy gave me a smile. "What's up Quinn?" Amy replied, and I noticed that was the first time she's called me Quinn. Interesting, considering how no one else here called me Quinn.

"How's Gabriel doing?" I asked. Amy sighed. "He's not doing well." Amy replied. "He's not eating, drinking, he's basically starving himself and looks like he hasn't slept in years." Amy sat down outside on a bench, and I joined her. "I tried to get through to him, but when I reached out, he just screamed, same when Judy tried to disinfect his wound." Amy let out a loud huff, as if she was trying to avoid crying. "I've never seen him so scared…" I patted Amy on the back, and Amy looked up at me with tear stricken eyes.

"I think he wants to die."


	2. Out of Options

**-Quentin's POV-**

The next day, Johnny arrived for the monthly trade, and this time, he brought some new faces, those being a short black man with a bald head and a trimmed beard and a pale, heavily tattooed man who looked just as intimidating as Tommaso. As the months passed by, Johnny and I began to get to know each other decently well.

Before the fall, Johnny worked in the catering business alongside his wife Candice, who was the manager while Johnny handled deliveries. According to Johnny, it was Candice's dream to go into the business, and became the manager as a result, and upon hearing that, I was a bit surprised that Johnny wasn't the manager, considering he was the leader of the college. Speaking of leadership of the college, he still hasn't told me about the previous leader, and whenever I brought it up, I noticed how he would be in a sour mood for the rest of the time I spent with him. It was after the third time that I made a mental note to avoid bringing that topic up.

As Ettore shut the gates, I walked up to Johnny and his two accomplices and gave them a wave. Johnny smiled in response and gave me a salute of some kind. "Hey Quentin, good to see you." Johnny said. "Nice to see you Johnny, who're your friends?" I asked. "Quentin, this is Trevor and Tom." Johnny gestured to the black man and the tattooed man in the order he said their names. At that, Tom and Trevor walked off to collect their share, leaving me with Johnny.

"Hey, so, how far along is Amanda?" Johnny asked. Something I did notice about Johnny in more recent conversations is the increased amount of interest he took in Amanda's condition. Speaking of Amanda, Amanda was due any day now, and suffice to say, she had been mentally preparing herself for when that time comes. Additionally, after she managed to save my life, she managed to get herself back into the good graces of almost everyone at Rock Hill.

Well, almost everyone, as Garrison was still very, very hesitant to forgive Amanda after what she did to me, and considering what he went through, it's easy to see why.

"She's close, why?" I asked. Johnny smiled. "Candice is expecting soon…" I grinned and shook his hand. "Congratulations man." Johnny nodded. "Thanks Quentin, we're not sure what the gender will be, but I can tell you for sure that I will be the happiest father alive." As he said that, I noticed Trevor walking by with a number of books. Johnny noticed this too, and walked over to Trevor. "Hey, Trevor, what's with the books?" Johnny asked.

"We don't have enough reading material at the college, and Vanessa's getting really pissy about it." Trevor replied, causing Johnny to raise a brow. "We got a lot of books at the college Trevor, I'm certain that if she looked hard, Vanessa could find something." Trevor shook his head. "Yeah, but they're just law books man, I doubt anyone would want to read that stuff."

As soon as Trevor said that, an idea popped into my head. As soon as Johnny stopped speaking with Trevor, I got Johnny's attention.

"Johnny, can I ask a favor of you?" Johnny crossed his arms at this. "Sure." Johnny replied. I took a deep breath as I began to ask. "Remember that guy we rescued from the hotel?" I asked, and Johnny nodded. "Yeah, Gabriel was it, the guy who got his eye cut out?" I mentally shuddered at the memory of seeing the traumatized and bloodied Gabriel in the chair, blood coating his right cheek. I took a deep breath.

"Look, I wouldn't ask this of you unless I had no other option, but he's basically close to ending it and I don't know what to do, but considering Gabriel used to be a lawyer, I'm asking that you take him back to the college, maybe being around something he enjoys will help him." I said. "I know this is a big favor to ask of you, but right now, I'm out of options. I can't get through to him, his best friend can't get through to him, not even his sister can get through to him, so again, I'm out of options."

Johnny stared at me for a brief moment before sticking his hands in his pockets. "Is he going to be dangerous towards others?" Johnny asked. "I'm asking that because I've got a child on the way and a number of people to protect, so I really don't want to worry about if this guy is mentally stable." I shook my head. "He's likely going to be dangerous towards himself." Johnny nodded. "Promise?" Johnny asked. "Promise." I replied. "Alright then, go get him and I'll be here."

A few minutes later, I found myself in front of the door to Gabriel's room, and opened the door to see Gabriel sitting on the bed, and it was then I noticed how much Gabriel had changed. His previously light blonde hair was much more dirtier and longer, and I noticed his much more visible facial hair. His blue eyes appeared to be sunken in, and he looked abnormally skinny. The most notable thing about his new look was the black eyepatch on his face, covering up the gaping hole where his eye once was.

"Gabriel?" I asked, slowly stepping towards him. "Gabriel, it's me…" I reached out for him, but he let out a loud gasp and curled up on the bed. I reached towards him again, looking to pat his shoulder, but he let out a strangled cry and backed away in absolute fear. "Gabriel, listen to me…" I said, and I kneeled down in front of him. "There's a guy here who's going to take you to a college, you'll be able to look at all you've learned about law, don't you want that?" Gabriel didn't respond, and I noticed how violently he was shaking.

"Gabriel, I need you to go with him, I think this will help." I said. Looking past him, I noticed a small amount of cracked and shattered bowls in the corner of his room, with dark orange stains on the wall. Must've been some kind of soup that Gabriel got especially triggered by.

I slowly stood up and began to walk out, but then I heard the bed behind me shift and saw Gabriel gingerly get up and follow me to Johnny, who widened his eyes at the condition of Gabriel. "Fuck, you weren't kidding when you said he was dangerous to himself…" I put my finger to my lips to shush Johnny and he looked away embarrassed. "Sorry, I'll just be going now…" Johnny guided Gabriel over to him, and proceeded to lead him out of Rock Hill.

I just hoped I made the right decision.


	3. Light in the Darkness

**Gabriel's POV:**

I couldn't say anything. Not because I actually couldn't, as in, my tongue being cut out, but it was because I felt...well...abandoned. After everything Quentin and the others went through to get me out, they decided to send me off with a group of strangers. To be fair, it was with good intentions, but it felt wrong. It felt like they were trying to get rid of me.

Nevermind, that's nonsense, Quentin, Brock, and especially Amy would never try to send me away in the hopes that they'd never see me again. I mentally cringed at the third to last word.

See.

I never realized until just a few months ago how much I've taken my sight for granted, and now that it's gone...I didn't want to go through with it anymore. I felt useless, weak, basically a liability, because that what I was going to be. I couldn't shoot a gun, I had to be extra careful when outside, basically, I was screwed and terrified of what would happen to me.

I didn't want to die, but at the same time...it felt like it was the right decision.

"We're here." I heard the man, Johnny speak, and watched as a bald man opened the gates to reveal numerous people bunched up together, talking amongst each other. It was then I quickly noticed a young woman stare at me in curiosity, and I quickly snuck away from the crowd slowly starting to gather around Johnny and the others.

I found myself a comfortable spot behind a bench, and began to take a few deep breaths to compose myself. However, just when I took my third breath, I felt something plop down next to me, and I looked to my left to see the woman from before, giving me a small smile. She then slowly gave me a wave. "Hey."

I didn't respond, I just went back to looking at the ground. Regardless, she didn't give up.

"I'm Dakota, you alright?" The woman asked again, and I again, I didn't acknowledge her. Dakota wasn't deterred by my reaction however, which I will give her credit for. "Aren't you the guy who got his eye cut out?"

I tensed up and began to tremble. "Sorry, I...I didn't know you'd be so affected by that...that was really stupid of me…" Dakota spoke. "If it makes you feel better...maybe you'd like to hear about me?"

I looked up, curious at what she was saying. Dakota noticed this and nodded, then took a deep breath.

"One night, during all this, I was alone, I had just holed up in a grocery store and while I was sleeping, I got woken up by this big black dude who held me at gunpoint and told me to go with him to his camp." Dakota began. "There were a few others there, just like him, physically and mentally…"

I felt my heart sink as I noticed Dakota begin to tremble. "They each took turns...making sure I didn't become too used...they had this ideology, saying that they needed to let go of their dead weight...but I never understood what they meant...until one night." Dakota huffed, and I noticed her eyes become puffy. "It was another terrible night, but this time, they brought two new members...a teenager and an older man…" Dakota began to sob as soon as she mentioned the older man. "They forced him to do terrible things to me...otherwise...they'd kill the teenager...and when he finished...they did it anyways…"

I began to scoot closer to her in an attempt to comfort her, and I really began to regret wanting to know her trauma, especially if it caused her so much pain and suffering that unfortunately, I understood. "But that night...the man came back, he wanted revenge...and he got that...he killed every, single, one in the most violent way he could think of...and I think that's what they meant by letting go of dead weight…" Dakota looked over and gave me a small smile once she saw how I scooted closer.

"You know, that's the fastest I've ever told someone…" Dakota spoke, and I wasn't sure how to feel about that. Her next question I didn't hesitate to answer however.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Gabriel."

I had forgotten her name, so I asked for it again, but when she repeated her name, I didn't hear Dakota.

I heard Katie instead.


	4. Katie

**Quentin's POV:**

_-Two weeks later-_

According to Johnny, much to my relief, Gabriel was doing much, much better now, and seems to have cheered up quite a bit since two weeks ago. He also mentioned Dakota, which Garrison quickly became interested in due to his less than favorable history with her. However, he learned to quickly leave it alone, as he was still setting up for the construction trip with some others.

Johnny mentioned the amount of time Gabriel spent with Dakota, and I already knew that when the time was right, I'd tease him about him. Not to the extent that Brock would when he found out about Gabriel's previous crush on Judy, but to the extent that it would be harmless at best.

Today was the day I decided to meet with Johnny for a nice chat about life in general, and also tell him about my boxing career, since he was very, very interested in that, as well as his wife. Speaking of wife, while Gabriel was at the college, I decided to help set up Brock's and Amy's wedding, and, much to my surprise, Brock didn't choose me as his best man, and instead chose Andrew. According to him, he had me, Andrew, Garrison, and Colby to choose from. He started by crossing me off due to me being the leader, although I'd gladly be his best man. However, he shot down my offer by saying he didn't trust anyone else to run Rock Hill in my absence.

Then there was Colby, who admitted he didn't exactly care much for weddings, but assured him that he would be there, albeit staying near the non-existent punchbowl. Why we would even have a punchbowl at a wedding besides getting hammered is beyond me, plus getting hammered during these times would be a massive mistake. I knew that because of the last time I got drunk and some girl got kidnapped, which led to…

...Garrett…

Garrison was the last to go, but then again, it didn't take long to strike him from the list of candidates, as Garrison revealed he has never been to a wedding before and didn't even know how they worked. Admittedly I shared a good laugh with Brock about this considering that a few weeks ago, Garrison was joking about the people in Rock Hill not knowing much about the biters.

That just left Andrew, who agreed to be his best man despite their history. Brock did admit to me however that Gabriel was his first pick, but unfortunately, due to Gabriel's condition, it wasn't going to work.

Speaking of Gabriel, right when I arrived at Lincoln College, the first thing I did was check on Gabriel, who was nose deep in a book of some kind with numerous other books around him, all of them pertaining to law. As I approached him, he looked up and, for the first time in months, smiled at me.

"Hey Quentin." Gabriel spoke. "Hey Gabriel, feeling better?" I asked, and Gabriel shrugged. "I dunno, how's Amy and Brock?" Gabriel asked in response. "They're good, just prepping for the wedding"

Gabriel smiled and sighed right after. "Sorry I couldn't help with the wedding." Gabriel spoke. Instead of responding, I noticed what he was reading and become rather curious. "Gabriel, what's that?" I asked. Gabriel looked at the book and nodded. " It's a law book about poorly handled assault cases." Gabriel then put the book to the side. "To be honest, it's not very good, it just goes over the basics and shows the outcome without any followup from the people around the victim."

"You must really be passionate about preventing that sort of stuff." I said, pulling up a chair. "Yeah, well since I met Katie it's become more prevalent." Gabriel replied. I raised a brow at the name he mentioned, because from I remembered, Gabriel had never ever mentioned a Katie before. Gabriel didn't seem to notice, so I pressed him.

"Who's Katie?" I asked. Gabriel realized what he said right then and there, and sighed. "Look, if I tell you...it's not going to be nice...she is the reason why I got into law in the first place." Shrugging, I leaned back and motioned for Gabriel to speak.

"Back in high school, it was my freshman year, and I was a massive geek. I was a massive Pokemon fan and well, since the Pokemon craze was far gone, I wasn't very popular. I didn't care though, I enjoyed it. I got bullied, but I didn't care, if they didn't like it or me, I could care less. But one day, one of the most popular girls in school, Katie Rushland, she took an interest in me and actually revealed she was a massive Pokemon fan, and she became my best friend. I did wonder for a while why she hung out with me, considering being associated with me caused her popularity to drop, and she said it's because I'm not a macho wanna be tough guy, and then I gained a little crush on her, and I may be delusional, but I think she liked me back, but I never got a chance to say it."

"What happened?" I interrupted. "Junior year, she decided to hold a back to school party, and she really wanted me to go, but I couldn't because the family was going to see a play Amy was in. Not sure what it was called, but it was some typical high school stuff. Turns out missing that party was the best and worst decision of my life."

I noticed how Gabriel began to shake at this point.

"When I got home, I got a message from Katie saying not to go, as there were guys who were jealous and wanted to beat me to hell. When they learned I didn't come, they just...put something in her punch, rohypnol I think it was, and they just...became fucking animals...they destroyed her...they assaulted her...they broke her…" Gabriel then began to quietly sob. "Those two animals spread rumors and every single one of those cunts believed them. She was tormented, made out to be a whore, and during that time, she distanced herself from me because she didn't want me to suffer...then that day came." Gabriel took a deep breath.

"They found her in the attic, she hung herself...and those fucking monsters cheered, and rejoiced, and basically were happy they caused a kind, innocent girl to kill herself because she was fucking raped...and they didn't let up, they kept going, and going, and it took everything in my power to not go nuts on them. Mom and Dad...they blamed themselves, but it was those stupid fucks fault, and mine as well. Maybe if I had just snuck out, stole the car, and driven there, I could've stopped it, but no, I didn't. I realized later there was nothing I could've done, as they were planning this for months…"

At this, I wrapped my arms around a sobbing Gabriel, who returned the hug. "That's the reason I went into law, it wasn't to avenge my friend, or destroy the lives of every single student at that school, it was to make sure nothing like this ever happened again…"

I let go of Gabriel as he began to wipe his face with his sleeve, and then I remembered Dakota. "Is this why you spend a lot of time with Dakota?" I asked. "Is it because you see Dakota as Katie?"

Gabriel slowly nodded. "Yeah...and...I think I like her…"

I shook my head in response, much to Gabriel's surprise, as I did notice one major problem in his crush on Dakota. "It isn't going to work like that." I spoke. "How would you know?" Gabriel asked confused. I took a deep breath.

"Gabriel, look, I'm really happy that you're feeling better, and I may not be an expert on relationships, especially between those of the opposite gender, but your way of thinking of Dakota isn't going to help you get her." Gabriel still looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"When you called her Katie, it's like you have a very idealized and skewed view of her. She's not the same as Katie, her trauma may be similar, but everything else isn't. You need to learn about her."

Gabriel began to scratch his eyepatch as he began to ponder this, then he nodded. "Yeah...you're right...thanks." Gabriel said, and I stood up from the table. "I have to go, and do me a favor, and get that eye checked out."


	5. Truth or Dare

**-Gabriel's POV-**

Later that night, after Quentin's visit, I decided to take a break from reading and get something to eat. While I was sitting at a table eating however, I encountered a man with long brown hair standing behind me, smiling at me in curiosity. In confusion, I looked up at him.

"Uh, hello?" I said. "Hey, I've been meaning to talk to you for a while now, and I guess now's a good a time as any." The man reached his hand out. "Names Adam." I shook his hand. "I'm Gabriel." I replied. Adam looked back towards three others. "Hey, if you're done, me and some others were going to play a game, maybe you'd like to join?" Looking down at my now finished plate, I nodded and, after disposing of my plate, I joined Adam and the three others at a campfire.

"Gabriel, this is Rob, Roderick, and Kyle." Adam gestured at a somewhat older man with dark brown hair and a goatee, a young man with combed up black hair, and another young man with light skin and short, light brown hair and a beard. The three others gave me a small wave in response and I took a seat between Adam and Rob.

"What's the game tonight Roddy?" Rob asked the black haired man, who just groaned. "Rob, I told you not to call me that…" Roderick spoke, leading to a small chuckle from Rob. "It's truth or dare."

"Roderick, what are we, teenagers?" Kyle asked annoyed. "It's that or Euchre, and I know how much you hate playing that." Adam replied, causing Kyle to throw up his hands in defeat. "I'll go first." Adam said, and stared at everyone there before setting his sights on Roderick. "Roderick, truth or dare?" Adam asked. "Dare." Roderick replied confidently. Adam scratched his chin for a bit and looked over at a stone statue of what appeared to be a previous staff member. "Make out with that statue." Roderick went beet red, but regardless, he went up to the statue and planted his lips on it, leading to a number of very confused stares and a large amount of laughter, mainly from Rob.

Roderick returned and turned his attention to Kyle. "Truth or dare?" Roderick asked. "Truth." Kyle replied, and Rob proceeded to cough and call Kyle something, but Kyle ignored it. "So, Kyle, what's the deal with you and Masami?" Roderick asked, causing Kyle to blush. "Seriously, I see you and Masami go into a room together, and not come out for about thirty to forty-five minutes, what's with that?" Kyle sighed loudly.

"We've been together for about five months now." Kyle spoke, then looked at Rob who had been grinning at Kyle. "...and yes, we fucked." This led to an uproar of laughter that I couldn't help but chuckle at, mainly due to Kyle's deadpan delivery. "Rob, truth or dare?" Kyle asked. "Dare." Rob replied confidently.

"Tell us if you ever had sex." Rob's face went white at this, and slowly shook his head and flipped Kyle off while Kyle loudly laughed. "Look at mister confident over here!" Rob groaned and turned to me. "Gabriel, is it?" Rob asked. "Truth or dare."

Not wanting to suffer Rob's fate, I answered with a truth. "What's with you and Dakota?" Rob asked. "We're just friends, she helped me a lot…" Rob raised a brow, and I decided to ask Adam, who answered with a truth. "How'd you guys get to Rock Hill?" I asked.

"We used to work at a fast food joint, forgot what it was called, but when it happened, we all just jumped in our cars and hauled ass and eventually, we found this place and settled down." Adam replied, then he turned to Roderick. "Truth or dare." Adam asked. "Dare." Roderick replied, and from the grin on Adam's face, Roderick realized he fucked up. "Go ask out Shayna." Adam replied.

Shayna was a woman who I've seen only a few times before, but from what I remembered, she was rather scary looking. Roderick seemed to share my opinion of her. "Really Adam?" Roderick asked. "She's years older than me, and she's super scary." Unfortunately, Adam, Rob, and Kyle egged him on and, with a bit of pressure, I did the same, which basically ended with Roderick getting a nasty punch to the ribs, causing him to fall to his knees in pain as the four of us laughed at his misfortune. The laughter picked up when he flipped us off while he held his hand to his ribs. "So, Gabriel, truth or dare?" Roderick asked.

Foolishly, I picked dare.

"Kiss Dakota for us…" At that, I shook my head, much to their annoyance. "Come on, we didn't pussy out, you gotta do it!" Adam said. "I can't, I need to go…" Quickly, I walked off, and heard a sigh from Adam as he decided to continue the game without me.

As I was heading back inside, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked over to see Dakota staring at me in concern. "What's up?" Dakota asked. "I left a truth or dare session because they wanted me to kiss you." Dakota's face turned pink, but she raised a brow.

"Wow, and you refused?" Dakota asked. "Yeah, I didn't want to bring up bad memories." I responded, and Dakota looked back at the four laughing together. "Yeah, I can see why, the four of them can be massive assholes, especially Rob." I nodded and sat on a bench with her, and then I remembered what Quentin said, and how I confessed to him.

"You alright?" Dakota asked. I nodded, then took a deep breath. "So...Dakota...um...I've been uh...thinking a lot...about you…and well...I'm not very good at these considering I've never done these before, so here we go...I like you Dakota...a lot...as in...well...that sorta stuff...and-"

I was stopped when Dakota pressed her lips to mine, and then hugged me tightly, which I returned. "I'm glad you feel the same way…" Dakota looked around her, then back at me. "Hey, why don't you spend the night, we can watch movies." Dakota said. "Keith recently managed to install solar panels and luckily, we have a generator that we use for nighttime stuff."

Smiling, I nodded and Dakota kissed me again, and ran off, leaving me feeling much, much better about myself.


	6. Celebration

**Quentin's POV**

_-Two hours later-_

Two hours later, I arrived back at Rock Hill and informed Brock and Amy about Gabriel's status, and needless to say, they were rather relieved. In celebration, I decided to invite them over to my place, as well as Andrew, Garrison, Trinity, and Macey. I would've invited Shawn, but he was sleeping and so, I didn't want to wake him up. It didn't take long for them to arrive, and immediately, we all started talking about life prior to the outbreak.

"So, who wants to hear about the angriest Gabriel's ever gotten before." Amy spoke, and Brock raised a brow. "Wait, he gets angry?" Brock asked. "For the longest time I thought he never got angry!" Amy shook her head. "Trust me, it's not often, but he doesn't just get angry, he gets pissed." Amy replied. "What happened?" Trinity asked.

"So Gabriel was working as a vendor and since his car was being repaired, I had to go pick him up, and when I got there, he was losing his mind at this woman, who was trying to understand some discount but she kept misunderstanding, so Gabriel was writing down all these addition problems while he was trying to make the lady understand. Eventually, when he realized his shift was up, he saw me, asked to get in my car and roll the windows up...by the way, this was in summer...and he put his face into the back seat and began screaming."

A plethora of laughs were shared, mainly from the image of Gabriel yelling about math. The conversation then turned to Garrison, mainly from one question. "You know, Garrison, I don't think we've found out what you did before all this." Brock said. Garrison smiled. "I'll give you one guess each." Starting with Brock, he said hunter, Amy said cop, I said gun store owner, Trinity said architect, Andrew said construction worker, and Macey said soldier, and Garrison shook his head at all of those. Finally we gave up and Garrison smirked.

"I was a ballet instructor." Everyone went silent, then began chuckling to themselves at the thought of Garrison doing ballet. "That is not what I expected at all." Trinity said. "Don't believe me?" Garrison asked. "I mean, when you rival Andrew in terms of intimidating, it's kinda hard to believe you." Brock replied. "I'll do the most intimidating pirouette you've ever seen."

The whole room burst out into laughter at the mental image, and then Garrison pulled a photo out of his pocket and handed it to us, which confirmed that yes, he was a ballet instructor. "Jeez, you look really young…" I said, noting how short his hair was and the lack of a beard. Garrison turned to Brock.

"So, how'd you and Amy meet?" Garrison asked. "Okay, so, me and my dad were out hunting, it was rather early in the outbreak, maybe...six months or so I believe, and while we were in the woods, we randomly stumbled across the two." Brock said. "We talked for a bit, and we decided to let them tag along." Amy smiled at him while Brock raised his hands. "I know, not the most exciting story, but it's the truth." Amy chuckled to herself. "Didn't you hide behind your dad because you were nervous?"

"I'd say fuck you, but I already am." Another large amount of laughter followed, with Amy burying her face in her hands while Brock just smugly looked around at the laughing faces. The laughter ended when Trinity spoke up.

"You know, while me and Jonathan were married, we always talked about our honeymoon, and I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, it's so nice there...well...I doubt it is now, but it was nice there." Andrew put an arm around her. "Honestly, I've always wanted to have it in Canada." I raised a brow at Andrew's words, which Andrew noticed.

"Quentin, I need to ask, what's it like in Canada?" Andrew asked. "Well, I lived in Montreal, so in the winters, it's super cold, and we get about a foot of snow, but in the summers, it's fucking scalding." I replied. "So what season would it be best to visit Canada?" Andrew asked. I shrugged in response. "Probably fall, the temperature is decent around that time."

It was then the radio strapped to my belt crackled, and I excused myself to answer the call. Much to my surprise, it was Johnny calling in. What surprised me more however, was what he said.

"We got a problem."


	7. Bad Memories

**-Gabriel's POV-**

An hour and a half later, I was leaning back on a bed with Dakota next to me, smiling as the credits rolled. The movie had ended and, honestly, it was a pretty average flick. Dakota looked over at me. "What do you think are the odds of Adam Sandler being alive nowadays?" Dakota asked. "Considering how his career began to tank after Pixels, I'd say not long." I replied. "True." Dakota pondered for a moment. "Hey, imagine if we met an actor someday during all this." Dakota said. "I think Will Smith would be the most likely to show up."

"Really?" I asked. "I thought it would be Dwayne Johnson, considering the strength and all that, plus he would likely fit at the college." Dakota smiled. "Why not both, The Rock's got muscles where muscles aren't meant to be and Will Smith has zombie movie experience." I shook my head. "I Am Legend was more vampires…" Dakota kissed my cheek just to shut me up. Suddenly, I got an urge to head to the bathroom. "Hey, Dakota, I'm going to head to the restroom, I'll be back." Dakota nodded. "Sure, and when you come back, I can show you my bat collection, I loved baseball back then."

After I finished up, I decided to head back until I bumped into Tommaso. Admittedly, Tommaso, despite being much shorter than Andrew, still gave Andrew a run for his money in intimidation.

"Hey Tommaso, what's up?" I asked, just to be nice. "You doing anything with Dakota in there?" Tommaso asked gruffly, and also taking me back at how direct he was and how he didn't even answer my question. "No, we're just watching a movie." I replied. Tommaso studied me for a bit, and then sighed. "I saw you earlier with her, and I personally don't care what you do, just know that Johnny's already expecting a child of his own, and we can't really deal with another pregnancy, so I'm just asking you to be careful." Tommaso spoke.

"I got you." I replied, before Tommaso walked away, there was something I decided to ask Tommaso. "Hey, Tommaso?" I asked, causing Tomasso to turn around. "Yes?" Tommaso asked. "How do you know Johnny?" Tommaso furrowed his brow and stepped towards me. "Why are you asking me this?" Tommaso asked, causing me to raise my hands. "I'm just curious." I replied.

"I met Johnny in preschool and he eventually became my best friend, college roommate, and eventually waiter in his wife's restaurant." Tommaso replied. "Wow, you go way back." I said. "Yeah, we're basically brothers." Tommaso then sighed. "Keep an eye out for Adam and his cronies, they're up for guard duty." With that, Tommaso walked off, and I went back to Dakota's room to notice something off.

The door was open, and there were muffled voices coming from inside. There was also a smell coming from within the room, and it smelled oddly like booze. I was afraid to open the door, because for all I knew, there could've been something really bad going on. Dakota was in there however, and I had to know. I slowly opened the door.

I saw Katie and a man there, Katie was screaming at the top of her lungs, but the man's hand was covering her mouth, preventing her from calling for help. Katie was struggling like mad, trying to escape, but she just couldn't move under the weight of the much more powerful man. I felt my anger surge, and I grabbed something large and blunt, and without even hesitating, I swung the object at the man's head, causing him to fall on top of Katie and slide off the bed, where I brought the object down on his face, causing it to cave in while he begged me to stop. I didn't care however, he was the one who caused the death of an innocent girl who just wanted to live her life. I brought the object down on his head again, and again, and again, until I was eventually out of breath.

I turned around to see Johnny standing in the doorway, staring at something at my feet in horror. Confused, I looked down at the object in my hands, and I noticed I was holding a metal bat, and at my feet, was a corpse with the caved-in skull of Rob.

"What the fuck did you do?"


	8. EPISODE 2: Nowhere to Run

**-Quentin's POV-**

An hour after I got the call from Johnny, I found myself standing in front of a holding cell, where a clearly mortified and tear-stricken Gabriel was sitting there, clutching his knees to his chest. Behind me, Johnny was glaring at me with his arms crossed.

"What happened?" I asked, and Johnny motioned for me to go with him, and led me up some stairs to a dorm room, where, upon opening the door, I recognized the familiar stench of blood, and, much to my horror, a body in the middle of the room. The body had no head, or, to be more precise, very little of a head left, as it was caved in entirely.

"Look!" Johnny pointed at the corpse aggressively. "He did this! You promised he wouldn't be a threat to us!" Johnny clenched his fists tightly. "I had no idea this would happen." I replied, and that's when Dakota ran in. "Johnny, I can explain-"

"Dakota, enough, if you're trying to defend that murderer, then forget it." Dakota left immediately, leaving me and Johnny alone once again. "Can I speak with Gabriel?" I asked, and Johnny slowly nodded. "He won't tell me fucking shit, maybe he'll listen to you considering you brought him here in the first place." Johnny then took out a radio. "Shane, Christopher, get to dorm 137, there's a body here…" Johnny put the radio away and led me back down to Gabriel's holding cell.

"Go talk to him." Johnny spoke. Slowly, I approached Gabriel and crouched in front of his holding cell. "Gabriel?" I asked, and waved at him a bit to get his attention. Gabriel didn't respond however, and just buried his head in his knees. "Gabriel, please, it's me." I said, trying to get through to him. Gabriel didn't respond, and Johnny walked over.

"I want him to be punished!" Johnny bellowed, causing Gabriel to flinch. "He'll be punished on my terms." I replied, and Johnny's eyes widened. "On your terms?" Johnny yelled. "You'll just give him a slap on the wrist and act like everything's cool! That shit isn't going to work!" I crossed my arms in response. "What's your plan then?" I asked.

"Lock that maniac up for a good long time! It'll give him time to think about what he's done." I slowly began to feel my anger brew, mainly because I knew for a fact that Gabriel was nowhere close to a lunatic, and I highly doubted that Gabriel would attack someone unless severely provoked. Gabriel himself even said that even though he wanted to attack every classmate that talked bad about Katie, he didn't because it wouldn't help in the slightest.

No, something didn't add up. It had to be self-defense, but why would he need to defend himself here?

"He's staying with me, and he'll be punished under my own rules. Now I'm going to take him back to Rock Hill." Johnny grabbed my arm at this. "You're bringing that lunatic back?! Do you want your people to be killed?!" I finally lost my temper, but instead of yelling at him, I just calmly looked at Johnny and stared him right in the eyes.

"Johnny, I know you're one of my trading partners, and you're going to be a father, but if you don't get your goddamn hands off me and let me leave with Gabriel I will break you in half." I said. "You wanna know what he told me?" I asked. "Gabriel told me himself that there was a girl he was close to, and committed suicide because she was raped and tortured, and Gabriel wanted to hurt them, but didn't." Johnny's grip began to slack. "Considering Gabriel would only fight in order to defend himself, I highly doubt he murdered whoever the fuck he murdered just because he wanted to, but it was in defense." Johnny glared at me. "Are you saying that Rob is at fault?!" Johnny yelled. In response, I looked him dead in the eye.

"I'm just saying you should get the fucking facts before you go and call him a maniac." I spoke. "Now let go of my fucking arm." Johnny released his grip and looked over at Gabriel, pondering to himself. Johnny then sighed. "Even if it was defense, it's not a good idea for him to remain here." Johnny spoke. "I want him out by morning, and I don't want to see him back again, otherwise, I won't hesitate." I raised a brow. "Hesitate to do what?"

"You know what I mean."


	9. The Morning After

**-Quentin's POV-**

_-Six Hours Later-_

It was a rather stressful packing as Gabriel didn't say a word while I helped him pack his things. Tomasso stood by the door, glaring daggers at Gabriel, and it didn't help when we got outside to see numerous faces glaring at us. "Keep your head down." I whispered to Gabriel, and slowly began to lead him through the crowd of patronizing faces.

Suddenly, I felt a jerking motion, and turned around to see a young man with long, brown hair tightly gripping Gabriel by the shoulder. "You fucking asshole, I should kill you for what you've done!" The man yelled, then pushed Gabriel to the ground. Johnny came over at this. "Let him go Adam." Johnny spoke. The man, Adam just glared at Johnny. "No, fuck that, he killed Rob!" Adam yelled, then pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Gabriel, who didn't even flinch or do anything. "Don't you dare Adam." Johnny spoke. "I'm doing you a favor-"

Adam didn't get anything out as I punched him in the cheek, sending him sprawling to the ground and knocking him out cold. Everyone gasped in surprise as Adam hit the ground, and I turned to Johnny.

"Get your fucking people under control." I spoke. Johnny sighed in response. "Just go." Johnny spoke, and guided us to the gates. As we walked though, I noticed Gabriel look back briefly to see the glaring expressions of everyone at the college. He knew he fucked up bad, and I wanted to know what happened.

In the car was where I decided to ask the question. "Gabriel, what the fuck happened?" I asked. Gabriel didn't say anything and just kept looking out the window. In response, I began tapping on the steering wheel.

" Rob tried to rape Dakota." Gabriel spoke. "I defended her, but...I saw Katie...and one of her assaulters…" I sighed and patted Gabriel's back. "So, Johnny wouldn't listen to you?" I asked. "I don't blame him, he knew Rob for longer." Gabriel replied. Letting out a soft groan, I ran my hand through my hair. "Fuck's sake…" I said to myself.

"I fucked up." Gabriel spoke. "I asked out Dakota, and she said yes, and I was happy, then I fucked it all up because I saw her as Katie…" I just shook my head. "Thank you Quentin, for trying to help…"

A few minutes later, we were back at Rock Hill, and as Brock and Amy came over to greet us, Gabriel quickly sprinted away, much to Brock's and Amy's confusion. "I think Gabriel needs some alone time, and we need to call a meeting." I said.

"What happened?" Brock asked.

"There was an incident, and needless to say, Gabriel isn't allowed back." I replied, causing Brock to sigh. "Fuck, and I'm assuming this meeting is about the state of our relationship with the college?" Amy asked. "Yeah, gather the others and meet in the office, we need to have a chat."

"Well, we'll need to wait for Garrison." Amy said. "Why's that?" I asked. "Where is he?"

"He took Evan and Dean on the trip to the construction site." Amy replied.


End file.
